Improvement in cartridges for fire-arms



A. SHANNON.

Cartridge.

Patented Mar. 4, 1862..

N-FETERS. FHOTO LTHOGRAFHER V( H|NGTON D C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER SHANNON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, T. \V.

WEATHERED, AND E. B. OHEREVOY.

IMPROVEMENT IN CARTRIDGES FOR FIRE-ARMS.

Specificatioa forming part ofLettel's Patent No. 34,615, dated March 4,1862.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER SHANNON, of the city and State of NewYork, have invented, made, and applied to usea certain new and ImprovedMode of Accelerating Projectiles and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention,reference being had to the annexed drawing, making part of thespecification, wherein Figure 1 is a vertical section of a cartridge,made according to my invention, and Figs. 2 and 3 represent diaphragmsintroduced in said cartridge.

Similar letters denote like parts.

Rifle, musket, and cannon balls have been projected by charges of powderplaced along the barrel and successively exploded. Powder has also beenmade to burn as a cake or mass, commencing at the rear next the breech;in all these instances either the fire-arm has to be adapted to theparticularpurpose, or else the powder has to be specially made.

The nature of my said invention consists in the employment of asectional cartridge, the powder being divided by perforated diaphragms,so as to cause two or more separate and distinct explosions in thepiece, the first explosion overcoming the inertia of the ball by acomparatively slow explosion, and the last explosion imparting thegreatest momentum possible to the ball.

In the drawing, a is the ball, that represented being a rifle-musketball; but my invention is applicable to cannon-balls, bombshells,orother projectiles. b is the casing of the cartridge, which may be of anydesired material, although I prefer the sheets of animals guts, dried asusual. 0 is one of my diaphragms (see also Fig. 2) between the sectionsof powder 0 and f, and d is another diaphragm (see also Fig. 3) betweenthe sections of powder f and g. These diaphragms are to be perforatedfor the passage of fire from one section of powder to the next, andaccording to the number and size of the perforations, so the fire willpass quickly or more slowly; hence, to make the third section g ofpowder explode very rapidly, the diaphragm 01 should have more holesthan the one 0, as shown.

In the use of this invention, the first section of powder 6 explodes,driving the powder f g and ball a partially forward, overcoming inertiaand to avoid undue strain, this powder may burn very slowly, or havecharcoal mixed with it for the purpose of retarding the explosion. Thenext section of powder exploding accelerates the ball, and so on; thethird explosion communicates a very rapid accelerated velocity to theball; the last section, g, of powder may be of the best quality, so asto explode very rapidly; and by this mode of gradually moving and thenaccelerating the ball, its greatest velocity is attained just beforeleaving the fire-arm, and I have found, practically, that very greatlybeneficial results are attained by this mode of exploding the powder,both in the safety of the discharge, as the piece is not liable toburst, as well as in the penetration or range of the ball.

The diaphragms, and the gases behind them, form a resistance for thesuccessive explosions, and, the ball being in motion, a very greatpressure can be attained near the muzzle with perfect safety. Theexpansion of gases causes the diaphragms to come out of the gun afterthe ball has left, and I find the recoil is not increased, but ratherdiminished.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The perforated diaphragm or diaphragms c d, producing a sectionalcharge, as and for the purposes specified.

As witness my signature this 7th day of October, 1861.

A. SHANNON.

Witnesses:

LEMUEL W. SERRELL, THos. Gno. HAROLD.

